LS Weekly Memo
Weekly Memo Week 13, November 9-13 , 2015
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Congratulations to the 4th and 5th grade students for completing the ERB’s. Thanks for the inspiring discussions about Rosetta Lee’s work and about what we value in the education of our students. Next week is the Book Fair at Annie Blooms, Thursday through Sunday. May your wish-lists come true.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
- The weather continues to cooperate. Skanska poured the first half of the ground floor floor today.
- Jon and I begin meeting with the furniture representatives this week.
- the building continues to be on budget and under time
Playground Design with Natural Materials
Greening the Campus - Strategic Energy Management (SEM) plan
COMMUNITY
Assembly on Friday - Mindfulness - Ways to Prepare
Kristen is working away on a Mindfulness Assembly.
On Friday, November 13, from 8:10-8:40am in the gym, our next Lower School assembly will focus on Mindfulness. We will have an array of mindful practices to engage in with buddies. If your students are not familiar with mindfulness practices, consider taking a short moment each day this week to prepare your students for Friday's assembly. One easy way to prepare is to do a short 2-minute meditation at calm.com, where you can choose a guided or silent meditation with an array of nature sounds and scenes in the background. Or select one of the short mindful meditations for children from Annaka Harris: http://annakaharris.
Inform the LS Office When you Explore
Be sure to contact the office if you take your class out exploring (remember 1st aid kit and emergency forms) on campus or if you leave campus.
2:55 Pick-up
Please be sure all students are ready for pick-up at 2:55. That means they need to be out on the walkway or pick-up zone ready to climb into cars at 2:55. Classes that come out late can hold up the whole dismissal process.
Chris Out of Office Monday, 11.9.15
Contact Lyn if you need support. Melanie, Ari or David will respond.
Late Start Thursday
Be sure to wait until 8:45 before you let children into the buildings on Thursdays. Teachers need every moment after meetings to be ready for their children.
Students Enter Building Early
I’ve heard that children are getting in the 1/2 Wing early- some adults are opening the door for them, possibly a parent. In any case, please remind children of where they should be before 7:50.
Birthdays
On Wednesday, November 11th – we will celebrate November and December birthdays with a chocolate cake, coffee and tea in the LS Lounge. Pick up your treats anytime of the day.
Happy Birthday!
NOVEMBER
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Larsen, Rachel
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11/11
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Meaghan Russell
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11/16
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Agron, Miriam
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11/18
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Ingham, Lara
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11/22
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Jennings, Madeleine
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11/26
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DECEMBER
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Burton, Carole
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12/6
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Kruse, Meredith
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12/6
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Graham, Megan
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12/14
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Finn-Brennan, Kathy
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12/23
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O’Toole, Chris
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12/30
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Bathroom Care
There had been reports that lately the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms are not well cared for and respected by our young 1st-3rd grade friends:
· A door stopper and other foreign objects were thrown in the toilets
· There were cute drawings (in pastel) on the girls’ stalls
· There was a report of overflowing and flooding from one of the toilets
Please talk with your class about respecting the common spaces.
Chapel Schedule
Monday, Nov. 9 - Theme: Girls’ Education
Special Guests: Mrs. Busick’s class
Friday, Nov. 13 NO CHAPEL. Assembly and Book Fair
Monday, Nov. 16 - Theme: Diwali, light, part 2
Special Guests: Assorted LS students sharing aspects of Diwali
Friday, Nov. 20 - Theme: Introduction to Giving Chapel. Blessing of the bags
Monday, Nov. 23 - Theme: Gratitude
Tuesday, Nov. 24 - Grandparents/Special Friends Day Chapel
Monday, Nov. 30 - Theme: Giving Chapel Agency presentation
Giving Chapel 2015
- Note the change of date from Monday, 12/7 to Friday, 12/11
- Timing is tight- blessing of the bags happens 11/20, arrange time on Friday, Monday or Tuesday to decorate the bags with buddies
Students of Concern
- HB - K- CB
- Has difficulty keeping up with the flow of things, can be disruptive. Let Carole and Chris know if he is having difficulties. We want to be consistent in our support.
- OB-K-CB
- Mourning the loss of her father, hasn’t wanted to be at school, has strayed away from the class, needs to be shadowed
- Giving her lots of love and support
- Specialists check in with Carole on how she is doing, we are taking this day by day
- LL- 1 KMcA
- Specialists, refer to the notes Kirstin sent out
- Call the office if he gets stuck and disrupts the class or needs support on the playground
• KM-1 KMcA
Having a particularly difficult time, in a negative place often throughout the day,
can refuse to participate, cooperate with adults. Call Chris if this happens or
contact Lyn. We are working on an intervention plan to support Kianna, Kirstin
and Julie.
- SG - 2 JB
- Working on first time listening, being respectful to adults and students, doing his best, being a flexible thinker, see his plan sent last week.
- Let Jackie or Chris know if he is having difficulty in your class
- If he gets stuck and disrupts the class, let Chris know- call the office
- Chris is sending out his intervention plan to specialists
- Specialists, please keep Jackie informed
- GH - 4 RT having a very difficult time recently
- If his behavior is a safety issue he needs to come to the LS Office for time to settle and regain self-control
- SK and BT- 4 RT
- S has been asked to give Ben, also in Rachel’s class, some space; not to work with
Ben in class, or socialize in any way. Let Rachel, Chris or Melanie know if any
issues arise with these students.
- 4th Grade Boys Rough Play at Recess
- Please keep a special eye on them if you are supervising these
areas and let Chris or David know if any issues arise. See Chris if you don’t know the backstory on these students.
- SW- 4AS
- Let Chris and Asha know if he has physical reactions with other children
- 5th grade girls - Ava, Elsa, Maggie and Sophia in Alysa’s class
- These Fifth Grade girls reconciled, but please continue to keep a special eye on them, and let Alysa, Melanie or Chris know if friendship issues become problematic
Major Rules - If a student violates a major rule, Chris and David need to know and need to be part of the determination of consequences and reparations.
- Verbal abuse, physical abuse, bullying, or inappropriate physical touch.
- Lying, deceit, or other dishonest conduct
- Destruction of property belonging to the School, its personnel or another student
- Stealing
- Inappropriate language
- Possession or use of weapons or any object that is used in a threatening manner
Lincoln Logs
Upper School Helpers - Every Wednesday, 10:20-10:50, Every Thursday, 10:50-11:50
Chapel - Monday - 11:50 - 12:20, Friday - 8:10 - 8:40
Judith Black Resources - CDs and DVD by Storyteller Judith Black
LS Library Open for 1st-5th from 7:30 - 7:50 each day
Local Beekeeper - Michael Standley, US Ceramics Teacher,
Yellowjackets - be aware and careful when adventuring
Rain Coats - remind your students to bring them
Community Communications Protocol - see David before sending out community wide email
Fall Parent Partnership Coffees - Coffees conclude this week.
Timeliness - it is a year long theme.
LS Office Conference Room - voices carry
Whistle Signals - 1 for recess. 3 for emergencies
LS Office as Communication Hub
PROGRAM
Scheduling Task Force
Looking for a few folks who are eager to work on revising the LS Schedule.
BS - Carole and Chris O’T
1st/ 2nd - Kristen H.
3rd - 5th -
2 Specialists - Ari,
Conference Reports to LS Office
Be sure to send copies of your conference reports to Miriam. Put the reports in a folder clearly marked with your name and give to Miriam or put in her mailbox.
Conference
- Reach out to SST if you need help with plans for a student
- Let us know if any surprises came up during conferences
Monday, 11/9 - FLG
Thursday 11/12 - Department/ Team
Lamb Endowment - see Erin
Book Recommendations for the Library - see Lara’s signature
2015-16 Faculty Events Calendar - enter dates
Schedules - changes to Lyn
OPERATIONS
Emergency Drill Notes
These are more challenging when they are surprises, but that is the point. Let’s practice well.
- Exit quickly, calmly and quietly. You need to maintain the order of your class throughout the drill in case there are directions.
- Remember that there are two entrances to the field now; the stairs onto the JV field and the gravel path by the gym. Choose whichever seems best.
- Students should keep shoes while at school for safety reasons
We Seek a Volunteer to Cover 4/5 Lunch Recess Duty on Wednesdays
Please let Chris O know if you can take on this duty. Fourth and Fifth Grade teachers cannot do this duty because they have important team meetings at this time. Specialists, I am hoping that one of you can consider taking this on.
Look for one more set of revisions early next week.
Take attendance at 8:00 and 8:10
- 8:00 for 1st - 5th grades
- 8:10 for PreK-P
Miriam needs accuracy in attendance so she can start calling parents
1st Aid Kits
- please return promptly after your trip is done
- We are missing one
- we need to be sure we have them available
Students Who Have Surgery or Other Major Medical Procedure
Please alert the office and Elaine if you have a student who has a major medical procedure or ongoing health challenges. Elaine, Miriam and Lyn like to be kept informed.
Sugar
The division heads and Kelly are looking into ways to reduce sugar consumption at school by examining the primary sources of sugar at lunch; juice, chocolate milk and desserts. Kelly has set a goal of reducing sugar, sodium and fat content by a third.
Personal Days
IMPORTANT: After School Plans
Kati Stenstrom, our new After School Classes and Summer Camp Director, Sherie Davison, her Assistant, Kathy Finn Brennan and I met last week to review the situation that occurred the week before when a Second Grader’s absence from an after school class went seemingly unnoticed. We have a plan which we think will prevent this mishap from happening in the future, but we need your help.
Please be sure to send your students to the gym for After School Classes on time. That means send them out your door around 2:50 so they can arrive for After School Class attendance check at 2:55. When students trickle in, arriving at 3:00 it makes accurate attendance check difficult and delays the start of classes.
Hiring Substitute Teachers
Making progress towards completing all reference checks! I hope to finish by early next week. If you see me in my office a lot in the coming week you can assume I am calling references.
Lyn, Miriam and I will meet with all new subs next Thursday after school for a training session.
New Assistant Substitute Teachers will have a day to shadow a “veteran” Assistant Teachers. Lyn will contact you if you are to be the shadow day mentor for a new Assistant Sub. Thanks in advance to all who will assist with this training.
Calendar Updates- Specifically for December through February
Please be sure to enter your big events- plays, field trips, learning celebrations posted on the faculty event calendar and Anne’s All School calendar. Remember, if an event impacts parents and families, you must get that on the Anne’s calendar.
This is really important! Sarah is scheduling student visits in the coming weeks and doesn’t want to book students on days when special events occur.
We suggest each team designate one “calendar person.” Several teams do this and it is super efficient way of keeping calendars up to date.
Noise Level Entering and Exiting the Dining Hall
Sand Box Toys - Take good care of them
OES Car Stickers - coming from Robbi in 2 weeks
Bring Cell Phones to Recess Duty - Miriam’s direct line on speed dial 503.768.3143
Emergency Drills - You will not be notified when. Talk students through basics.
Your Announcements
Send any announcements you have for faculty to Chris or me by Thursday each week and we will include them in the Weekly Memo. This should help reduce the number of emails we are receiving, and to maximize our time to collaborate during meetings.
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